Easter Seals Disability Services

Forty-six-year-old Ron Iles has attended Easter Seals Central California’s Wide Awakes program for the past 26 years. He is developmentally delayed which in his words, “makes it hard for me to learn,” but that hasn’t stopped him one bit.

Ron has lived in the Santa Cruz County area his whole life and has many interests and hobbies. He attended Aptos High School and then went on to Cabrillo College where he studied general education.

As a teenager, Ron served on the Junior Fair Board with the Santa Cruz County Fair. At the age of 21, he worked for the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and then at 26, began working in the bakery department at Safeway. A couple of years later, Ron received a promotion and became a Safeway courtesy clerk. “My favorite part about working is the people I get to meet,” Ron said.

It is this friendly, outgoing attitude that makes him so popular with the Wide Awakes group. When talking to volunteers for the group they have nothing but great things to say about Ron. “He is kind and sensitive and has a good sense of humor,” says Amy Roberts, Easter Seals Human Resource Generalist and Wide Awakes volunteer. “He is always making me laugh!”

Currently, Ron lives with his dad and his sister on a farm in Aptos, where he works in the family business. They have a herd of 24 goats and make goat equipment. Twenty-eight years ago, Ron got involved in raising and racing homing pigeons which is by far his most loved hobby.

“My mom and I were at a restaurant when she saw an ad in the local newspaper selling pigeons,” Ron explains. “She asked me if I wanted to get one and I said, ‘yes.’ I raise them from babies and teach them how to fly. I let them out in the morning and they fly back to the loft in the evening.”

Even with all of the other activities that Ron participates in, he still finds time to attend the Wide Awakes meetings. Over the years, he has seen Wide Awakes members come and go but he still remains true to the program. “I am more outgoing because of Wide Awakes,” Ron says. “I really enjoying meeting new people and making new friends and attending the meetings and activities has helped me to be more outgoing.”

The program is designed to give adults with disabilities the opportunity to socialize with their peers and to participate in a variety of activities and has given Ron a place where he fit’s in.

To learn more about Easter Seals Wide Awakes program, please contact Melody Szarek at 831-684-2166, ext. 205.

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